


are you buying what I'm selling?

by ever_neutral



Category: Mad Men
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-11
Updated: 2011-04-11
Packaged: 2017-10-17 22:33:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/181993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ever_neutral/pseuds/ever_neutral
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s the one perfect pitch he’ll ever get to make.</p><p>[S5 setting]</p>
            </blockquote>





	are you buying what I'm selling?

Roger contemplates for weeks about including Joan in his memoir.

Oh, she’ll be in it. That’s not even in question. _Finest piece of ass he’s ever had_ , after all.

_Does he still not care who knows it?_

Maybe he cares that she might.

 _And how do you **feel** about that?_ He has to consider it.

~

He finds it hard to see her everyday. Sashaying through the halls of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce _(the mast at the helm of a ship that feels like it might topple under any day)_ ; passing by his door, sometimes stopping to come in, if he’s lucky _(lingering too long, but not long enough because she did always know how to leave them hanging on, after all)_ , sometimes walking right by.

If he were a good salesman, he’d cut his losses.

_But the rebel in him thinks they might be worth it._

~

_Who is Roger Sterling?_

“Roger Sterling” is a cynic. “Roger Sterling” knows there has always been priceless value in not being surprised. It’s how he makes his living; it’s the way he knows how to live.

His readers -- of which there are sure to be tons upon masses _(except when he’s feeling cynical, which is ironically more often than he’d like)_ – will be unequivocally clear about this. There will be no trace of uncertainty in those pages.

It’s the one perfect pitch he’ll ever get to make.

~

He should be in his office, working on his memoir and being important; but he’s held in a moment next to the coffee maker, watching Joan greet the copyrighters.

 _(And do you have any regrets?_ Not a damn thing.)

And then she strolls right up to him, smiles at him like an old lover; and he is instantly _(constantly)_ saved from his hopeless ennui.

 _God. What a mouth-watering specimen._ He decides on the spot to write the truth; he wants the world to know what Roger Sterling, Junior managed to score.

The more lubricated, morose part of him frets about how to do her justice.


End file.
